Hong Kong, 4 Jan 2005 - The
celebrated opera conductor will lead such prominent singers as Susan Bullock
(starring as the title role of Salome), John Brocheler (as Jokanaan, also known
as John the Baptist), Chris Merritt (as Herod, the Tetrach of Galilee),
Bernadette Cullen (as Herodias, wife of Herod), and Marcel Reijans (as
Narraboth, admirer of Salome), together with 8 other brilliant singers as well
as over a hundred orchestral musicians. Salome will be sung in German, with
Chinese and English surtitles.

"People often ask, why do an opera in concert? There
are many reasons, but particularly in the operas of Wagner and Strauss, where
the orchestra tells the story as much as the singers, concert performances offer
a purer experience of the opera than a staged performance," Edo de Waart
explained. "Having conducted many operas in the theatre, I can promise you that
it is a very rare thing to find a stage producer who is in total sympathy with
the score. In concert, this powerful and dramatic music can speak for
itself."

Edo de Waart is a critically acclaimed opera
conductor and one of the world's leading interpreters of Richard Strauss' music.
He has enjoyed success conducting a large and varied repertoire in many of the
greatest opera houses of the world, such as Covent Garden, the Metropolitan
Opera, the Paris Opera and Bayreuth. He served as the Chief Conductor of the
Netherlands Opera from 2000 until 2004. His farewell performance at the
Netherlands Opera, in February 2004, was a new production of Der Rosenkavalier
that was greeted with all-round praise by opera lovers and reviewers.

Portraying the leading role, Salome, is Susan
Bullock, who has recently performed such demanding roles as Elektra (Brussels,
La Scala, Milan in 04/05 season), Brunnhilde (The Ring, Tokyo, Perth) and Isolde
(Tristan and Isolde). In the 2004 BBC Proms, she performed in Olivier Messiaen's
Poemes pour Mi. ¡§Bullock is passionate and visceral,¡¨ wrote Michael Kennedy of
The Sunday Telegraph, who also characterised her ¡§luxurious tone that gleams
like steel.¡¨

Salome has belonged to every major opera house since
its controversial premiere in Dresden 100 years ago. Cast in one sweeping and
intense act in the historic time around 30 A.D., Salome portrays a neurotic and
self-absorbed princess and her obsession with John the Baptist. As her reward
for dancing in front of Herod (the famous Dance of the Seven Veils), John was
executed. When the head of John was presented to Salome, she kissed the dead
lips in ecstasy, which also led to her own murder ordered by Herod. The musical
world was shocked by its powerful psycho-dramatic depiction of intense human
instincts. Many attacked the ¡§immorality¡¨ of Salome's libretto, translated
into German from an original text authored in French by Victorian literary giant
Oscar Wilde based on a biblical story. The opera received 38 curtain calls at
its premiere performance. However, Strauss was criticized for unconventionality
in Salome and his subsequent depiction of another troubled female figure,
Elektra (1909). Detractors aside, Salome has found devoted fans worldwide from
1905 to the present day, and its tremendous demands on vocal and orchestral
mastery has made it a virtuoso benchmark for any acclaimed dramatic
soprano.

This is the first of HKPO's venture to regularly
feature opera in concert performances, beginning with the 2004/05 Season. Opera
in concert enjoys an increasing popularity in recent decades. Every year at
London's BBC Proms concerts, at least one opera is performed in the concert
format. During Edo de Waart's tenures as Director in San Franciso and Sydney, he
conducted many highly successful projects, including concert performances of
Wagner's Ring Cycle, culminating in performances of Gotterdammerung as part of
the 2000 Sydney Olympic Arts Festival.

Tickets are now available at URBTIX at HK$680, $480,
$340, and $220, through reservation at 2734 9009 (URBTIX) or Credit Card Booking
at 2111 5999 (Cityline). For enquiries, please visit www.hkpo.comor call 2721 2030.

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HKPO) presents in
concert Salome, the twentieth-century one-act opera classic by Richard Strauss,
based on Oscar Wilde's original play. Conducted by HKPO's Artistic Director and
Chief Conductor Edo de Waart, three performances will take place on 20,
22, and 24 January 2005 (Thu, Sat & Mon) at 8pm in the Hong Kong
Cultural Centre Concert Hall.